By IANS
Lucknow : Hundreds of farmers Tuesday gathered outside a Reliance collection centre near here to protest the abrupt closure of Reliance supermarkets by the state government last week and shouted slogans against Chief Minister Mayawati.
Carrying banners and placards of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), the farmers raised slogans criticising the chief minister for closing Reliance Fresh stores within hours of their launch.
Slogans of “Mayawati Murdabad” (down with Mayawati) rent the air as the farmers attired in traditional rural outfits aired their grouse against the government at Chamar-Tolia village in Gosainganj development block, about 27 km from here.
They also shouted “Kisan ekta zindabad” (long live farmers unity) and “Reliance kholo” (open Reliance).
Mayawati, who had quite excitedly announced a new progressive farm policy to boost private investment in agriculture and to throw open the doors for contract farming in the state, was seen as a farmers’ messiah. That was till she suddenly ordered shutting down of Reliance, which did away with the traditional middlemen and bought produce directly from farmers.
“We saw a lot of potential for our economic growth by aligning with Reliance; we could see the end of our exploitation at the hands of powerful middlemen who leave us with no choice but to sell our produce at a price decided by them. But Mayawati has frustrated our dreams,” observed Ram Chandra Varma, district vice president of BKU, who led the demonstration.
The farmers are quite irked with Mayawati’s assertion that she had ordered closure of Reliance stores claiming that farmers had disapproved of it.
“I find it strange how she got this idea. To me and my union of farmers it seems that the chief minister’s ban order on Reliance was aimed only at benefiting traders, who are backed by her rival and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav,” Verma added.
The BKU proposes to stage a demonstration in the state capital later this week to press its demand to reopen Reliance stores.